Fruit picking apparatus

Abstract

An apparatus for picking fruit from trees which takes the form of an elongated member which has a cutting blade arrangement at the upper end of the member and a handle structure at the lower end of the member for activating the cutting blade. Once the stem of the fruit has been severed, the fruit passes into a guide tube and hence into a flexible guide chute prior to being deposited into a container. The cutting blade assembly could take the form of a scissors type arrangement or could take the form of a rotating cylinder which passes over a fixed cutting blade with the fruit having been initially located within the cylinder.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for picking fruit from trees comprising: an elongated member having an upper end and a lower end;   actuation means mounted on said lower end of said member;   cutting means mounted on said upper end of said member, said cutting means being movable to effect the cutting operation, said actuation means being connected to said cutting means, upon manual activation of said actuation means said cutting means being moved through the cutting operation;   guide means mounted on said member directly adjacent said upper end and said cutting means, said guide means being tubular for conducting therethrough a piece of fruit in a particular direction after the stem of the fruit has been severed by said cutting means, said guide means including an elongated flexible walled chute for guiding and depositing the fruit in a container without bruising of the fruit;   said cutting means includes a rotatable cylinder defining an interior chamber, said rotatable cylinder having a cylindrical wall, a cutting blade fixed to said upper end of said member and mounted within said interior chamber and located in close proximity of said cylindrical wall, a first opening formed within said cylindrical wall, a second opening formed within said cylindrical wall, a single piece of fruit to be inserted through said first opening and upon activation of said actuation means the cylindrical wall is moved across said fixed cutting blade to thereby sever the stem of the fruit and cause the fruit to fall freely within said interior chamber and out through said second opening and into said guide means; and   spring biasing means connected between said elongated member and said rotatable cylinder, said spring biasing means exerting a continuous bias on said rotatable cylinder tending to locate said rotatable cylinder in a pre-cutting position.